Machine for making nut-locks



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H. W. ARMSTRONG.

*' MAGH'INE FOR MA'KINGNUT LOOKS, 8x 0.

- Patented Mar. 20 1883.

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H. W. ARMSTRONG. MACHINE FOR MAKING NUT LOOKS, &c,. No. 274.251. Patented Mar.r20,1883.

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M 55555. hvEr lmL UNITED STATES- PATENT Fi rce,

I HARRY W. ARMSTRONG, OF VERONA, ASSIGN OR TO METOALF, PAUL & 00., OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE'FOR MAKING NUT-LOCKS, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 274,251, dated March 20, 1883.

Application filed August 16, 1882. (No model.)

1 To all whom at may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY W. ARMSTRONG,

'of Verona, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,

have invented a new and useful improvement in machines for form ing annular nut-locks and giving them a spiral or corrugated or twisted shape, as may be desired; and I do hereby declare the following v to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

in machines for My machine is designed as an improvement making spiral washers for nutlocks described in Letters Patent No. 159,932,

,to Metcalf, Paul & 00., assignees of Samuel Trethewey, dated January 29, 1875, and in Letters PatentNo. 175,854 to W. Metcalf, dated March 28, 1876. Those machines are capable of making spring-washers and giving them the desired set or spiral shape, with or without a twist, and have been so used; and my improved machine, while operating on the same general principle and employing many of the devices described in the machines referred to, is designed to simplify the construction and operation of the machine, and especially in the manufacture of twisted annular nut-locks to give greaterregularity and any required degree of twist.

To enable others skilled in the art to make practical use of myinvention, I will describe ing part of my specification and consisting of' nine figures.

Figure I is a front elevation of my machine. Fig. 11 is a transverse vertical section through the line as m of Fig. I. Fig. 111 is a longitudinalvertical section of Fig. I. Figs. 1V,V, VI, VII are representations of various details.

Figs.VIII and 1X area plan view and section of one of the forms of nut-locks which my machine is capable of making.

Like letters of reference denote the same parts in the several figures.

In the drawings, A is the bed-plate of the machine, supported bya suitable frame. The horizontal power-shaft 13, having its bearing in the frame of the machine under the bedplate, carries two cog-wheels, a a. The cogwheel b is carried by the revolving die-holder ,t as topermit of a slight longitudinal motion of E, which serves as its shaft, and is attached to the die-holder with a spline or feather, so

the die-holder E, in addition to its rotary m0- holder E and its position (shown in Fig. I) until forced forward tion. The cog-wheel 1), near the other end of the machine, is carried by the die-holder E, and may be keyed thereto without a feather, as the die-holder E does not have any longitudinal motion when the machine is in operation. The die-holders E and E are in the same axial line parallel to the mafn shaft B, and each is supported in a journal-box, D D, by posts d d on the bed-plate A. The cogwheels at and a are of equal are the cog-wheels b and I), so thatthe dieholders E and E revolve at the same speed and in the same direction. A collar, 0, on the die-holder E serves as a bearing for a spiral spring, or, which also bears against the end of the journal-box D, and thus retracts thediedie, and keeps them in that by a cam, as hereinafter described, to the position shown in Fig. III.

The dies 0 O are very similar to those used in the Trethewey machine before referred to, and are screwed into a suitable cavity in their respective die-holders. These (lies are made as shown in section in Fig. III, the die 0 being tubular, so as to receive the end of the mandrel I, and the counter-die 0 being a sleeve-die, so that the mandrel I may pass through it. Each of these sides 0 G has acollar, hh, which, when the dies are screwed into their respective dieholders, rests against the on ter extremity of the die-holder, thus preventing any strain on the screw-threads of the dies and die-holders, The die-holder E also has acollar, r, which bears against the face of the journal-box D, so as to cause the strain of the pressure of the swaging-die (3, when the nut-lock is being swaged, to be borne by the journal-box D and its standard 61. As in the Trethewey machine, the two dies serve to seize and hold the blank to be operated upon, and in my machine they also give toit the required facial conformation, as either spiral or corrugated, or both spiral and corrugated, as may be desired. The shape thus given to the nut-lock (in addition to its annular shape) will dependon the contour of the face of the dies, which are made counterparts of each other, so that ifa simple spiral shape is desired the die shown in the Trethewey patent will be used; if a spiral shape, with the ends of the nut-lock turned out'of the regular line of helix, then the die shown in the Metcalf patent will be employed, a counterpart diameter, as also die being added; and if a nut-lock is to be made having a corrugated shape-v-such, for example, as that shown in the Patent No. 236,634, to Daniel B.Pratt-the faces of the dies will require to be so shaped,as shown in Figs. VIII and IX of the drawings attached to this specification, one special advantage of my machine being that I am enabled to make annular washers of various shapes by a mere change of the dies, without other alteration in the machine.

Within the counter-die O is placed a mandrel, I, (as in the prior machines before referred to,) the forward extremity of which projects far enough beyond the face of the die 0 to enter the cavity of the die C, made for that purpose, when the nut-lock is to be formed. The rear portion of the mandrel I within the dieholder is square in cross-section, as is also that portion of the cavityof the die-holder through which the square part of the mandrel passes, so as to'cause the mandrel I to revolve with the die-holder E. When the nut-lock is being formed around the mandrel I the mandrel projects forward through thecounter-die O sufficiently to enter the cavity of the swaging-die 0 when the latter is advanced to the position shown in Fig. III. The mandrel remains in this advanced position until the nut-lock is finished, and is ready to be delivered from the machine.

To effect this, when the swaging-die G recedes,

or immediately thereafter, the mandrel I is retracted until its point is inside of the counterdie O, thereby stripping the nut-lock from the mandrel, and permitting it tofall away from the machine. This motion of the mandrel is effected as follows: The mandrel I extends horizontally backward through the revolving die-holder E, and through a standard,j, at-

tached to the bed-plate A, and passes through a sleeve, 9, to which it is attached, and in which its position is adjusted by a set-screw, 8'. Around the mandrel I, and between the sleeve 9 and the standard j, is a spiral spring, as, which causes the retraction of the mandrel at the proper time. Except when thus retracted to deliver the finished nut-lock, the mandrel is retained in its advanced position,

as in Figsl and III, by means of a'face cam, K,

attached to the extremity of the main shaft B, and revolving therewith. A lever-arm, l, pivoted at y to a bracket projecting from the bedplate A, is pivoted at its upper end (the extremity of its longer arm) to the sleeve g,while the short arm of the lever l carries at its ex tremity a roller, 2, which is pressed by means of the spring or against the outer face of the cam K, near its circumference. The operative face of the cam K is a plane surface excepting at one point where there is a recess, 70, of sufficient length to permit the roller 2 to enter it, and of suflicient depth to give motion enough to the lever l to permit the spring at to force back the mandrel I. The construction and operation of this device are shown in Fig. III.

In Fig. I the die 0 is represented asretracted from its counter-die C, which retraction is effected by the spiral spring ac, as before stated but when the blank is to be operated upon, as it has not only to grip'the blank while it is woundaround the mandrel I, but also to give to it the spiral or corrugated shape, it becomes necessary that a swaging action should be com-. municated to the dies as well as a mere gripping action. For this purpose adevice is used. (Shown in Figs. III and IV.) A collar, 6, is formed on the die-holder E, (or preferably attached thereto by a countersunk screw, '11,)

which, when the die-holder E and swaging-die f (l are retracted, comes in contact with the face of the journal-box D. This collare partially enters a sleeve, f, adjustably attached by setscrew t to the forward end of thejournal-box D, so that the sleeve f is stationary while the dieholder E and its collar 0 revolve. A cam or tooth, 0', projects from the circumference of the collar 0 of the die-holder, such tooth being beveled on one sideor face only, as shown in Fig. III. A corresponding notch or depression, i, is made in the otherwise plane surface ofthe face of the sleeve f, the beveled side of the tootht' facing toward the direction in which the die-holder revolves. Now, if the toothi is entered into the notch t" of the stationary sleevef, as in Fig.I, the die 0 is retracted; but as the die-holder E revolves the beveled face of the tooth i rides over the beveled surface of the notch t" in the collar and passes outof the notch, and thereby forces the die-holder E and its die 0 forward toward the counter-die 0 against the resistance of the spring at, as shown in Fig. III, and preserves it in that position until the tooth t again reaches the notch t" in the sleeve, into which it drops, being forced back by the spring so, thus causing the die 0 to recede to the position occupied by the dies when the blank is fedinto the machine, which is represented in Fig. I. This occurs once in each revolution of the dies and mandrel.

On the side of thejournal-box D is a tapped lug, q, through which passes a set-screw, s, the point of which bears against the rear face of the sleeve f, so that when the adjusting-screw t in the sleeve f isloosened the positionof the sleeve on the journal-box'D may be nicely adjusted to regulate the position of the die-holder E and swaging-die G relatively to the counterdie 0, and thereby, also, the width of space between the faces of the dies 0 and 0 when. the swaging-die O is advanced to grip the blank. When the sleeve f is properly adjusted the screw it is tightened to hold it firmly in posi; tion. A screw, 8, passing through a tapped lug, q, on the journal-box D, presses more or less against the hub of the cog-wheel b of the die-holder E. The object of this is to act as a brake on the cog-wheel b, so as to insure steadiness of motion by the friction of the point of the screw s against the end of the hub. A similar screw and lug may be used, also, on the opposite side of the journal-box D, so as to prevent the cog-wheel b from being put out of its proper position.

In order to insure the winding of the blank around. the mandrel, which would otherwise be difficult or impossible where the nut-lock is to .be made of corrugated shape, and the swaging-dies form, together with the mandrel, the cavity in which thenut-lock is to be shaped. I employ a loose roller, B, which is set in a frame, G, attached to the bed-plate of the machine.

chine, the periphery of theroller R just touching the surface of the revolving dies 0 O, and revolved only by frictional contact therewith or with the blank which is being formed by the machine. The roller-frame G overhangs the dies and mandrel, as shown in Fig. II, and the roller may be made to press with greater or less force on the dies or on the blank being rolled between them by means of a screw and nuts 92 n on the roller-shat't, Figs. I and II.

In front of the dies, and in the line of the cavity formed by them and ot' the bite of the mandrel I and roller R, is a feeding-box, F, the cavity of which is of the shape of the crosssection of the blank of steel from which the nut-lock is to be formed. This feed-box F is set in. a journal-box, H, supported by .a post, h, attached to the bed-plate of the machine, and, excepting in cases where it is desired to twist the nut-blank as it is being fed into the machine, the feed-box should be stationary. If, however, it is desired to make a twisted nut-lock, the nut-blank is revolved, thereby twisting the blank, the forward end of which is held fast between the dies 0 O of the ma- The revolution of the feed-box is effected by means of a bevel cog-wheel, m, keyed onto the revolving die-holder E, which gears into a beveled pinion. a, keyed into the front end of the feed-box F. The relative size of the cog-wheel m and pinion n regulates the numberoftwistsgiven to the nut-blank. When the nutblank is not to be twisted the pinion n is unshipped and removed from the machine and the feed-box is secured from rotation and in its proper position by a set-screw, t, in the journal-box H. In Figs. I and III of the drawings the feed.-

- box is not represented, as it occupies a position in the machine in front of dies and feedroll, and it cannot be shown without obscurin g the feed-roller and dies. The beveled-gear wheels at. and n, by which the feed-box is r0 .tated, are also omitted in Figsl and III, for the reason that they are not necessary to the operation of the machine when the blank is not to be twisted. They are represented, however, in Fig. II.

As it is not requisite even in making twisted nut-locks that the blank should receive a uniform and continuous twisting motion, such as would be communicated bythe beveled-gear wheels at n, a simple and inexpensive device may be substituted for the gear-wheels, consisting of four radial arms projecting at right angles to each other from the circumference of the die-holder E and four similar radial arms projecting at right angles to each other from the feed-box F, these arms being of such length and so arranged as that on the revolution of the corresponding arms on the feed-box, and

thus cause the rotation of the feed-box on its axis. These arms or the beveled cog-wheel m may be attached to either of the die-holders E or E, as may be more convenient. The rear extremity of the feed-box next to the dies is reduced in diameter with a curving contour, so as to extend the feed-box as near to the bite of the roll andfimandrel as may be without actual contact. A side view of the feed-box removed from its bearing is shown in Fig. IV, and an end view in Fig. V.

The operation of my machine is a follows When-the parts are in the position shown in Fig. I the nut-blank, which is a piece of steel of the required length and shape in cross-section, havingbeen first heated to a welding-heat, or nearly so, is inserted into the feed-box until its forward end rests on the upper surface of the mandrel I and touches the face of the counter-die O. The die 0 then advances and seizes the nut-blank, the opposite faces: of dies C O forming, with the mandrel 1, a groove, into which the nut-lock blank is to be rolled, the parts then occupying'the position. shown in Fig. III. As the dies revolve the roller R forces the nut-blank into the cavity and compels it to assume the required shape. When a single revolution of the dies. is complete the cam-tooth t on the holder E enters the cavity t" in the collarf, and allows the die 0 to be withdrawn by thesprin g x, and simultaneously the mandrel I is withdrawn into the die 0 by the spring 00, thus stripping the finished nutlock oft the mandrel I, when it drops to the ground, and the machine is again in position for the repetition of the operation. As before stated, the nut-blank having been seized at its forward end between thedies O G is twisted. as it enters the machine, by the revolution of the feed-box, if the pinion n is in place; but

it not, the nut-lock is formed without being twisted.

By my machine nut-locks may be made of round or square steel, or of-steel of any other desired shape in cross-section.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, in machines for forming annular nut-locks, is-

1. The combination of a gripping-die, a counter-die, a mandrel, and an adjustable loose pressure-roller for rolling and swaging blanks of steel into annuli of spiral, corrugated, or other desired shape, arranged and operating substantially as described.

2. The combination of a revolving feed-box with a pair of swaging-dies and mandrel, constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day of August, A. D. 1882.

HARRY W. ARMSTRONG.

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